While fetching drinks for my girlfriend and me at the Walnut Room’s bar a couple of days ago, a tall woman’s face looked familiar. Given that vodka usually replaces my inner monologue with sometimes-inappropriate banter, I told the attractive girl, “You look really familiar.”

Yes, I was that guy for two seconds. I immediately said, “Not in a, like, I’m- picking- up-on you kind of way -’cause I’m not, honest. You really do look familiar.”

She mildly agreed, told me her name was Mary, and we chatted for a few before she said, “Wait … do you know my brother Matthew?”

Of course. Matthew and I studied journalism together at Metro. Once we almost started an alternative newsweekly, and while we advertised it all over Denver with handbills and barside boasting, neither of us would sell advertising, and so the Post-Urban Skinny never left our computers and imaginations.

Mary was his adorable little sister, and now she was at the Walnut Room rocking out to Laylights. “I really like this place,” she said of the rock club/pizza bar.

I couldn’t help but agree.

The Walnut Room has some of the best sound in town, and it’s starting to expand on its booking – showing love to singer-songwriters, pop kids and indie rockers alike. The bar’s more practical side is the main bar, which has a pizza-and-sandwich kitchen that could well be your best friend.

When it first opened, the Walnut Room’s pizza was the buzz. As it turns out, it’s almost as sound as the PA system in the adjoined room.

After ordering at the window – a different check than your bar tab, unfortunately – cozy up to one of the many tall bar tables that overlook that rough offshoot of LoDo. It’s all warehouses and random offices, but the Walnut Room’s new construction is smart and solid – filling a need in Denver’s overcrowded venue infrastructure.

Ricardo Baca is the editor of The Cannabist. After 12 years as The Denver Post's music critic and a couple more as the paper's entertainment editor, he was tapped to become The Post's first ever marijuana editor and create The Cannabist in late-2013. Baca also founded music blog Reverb and co-founded music festival The UMS.

The long-awaited exhibition will feature artifacts, stories and perspective on the historical role of brewing in Colorado's fortunes, from Adolph Coors' first experiments to (relative) upstarts and current titans such as New Belgium Brewing.